Murder of James Bulger
| Murder of James Bulger | |
|---|---|
James Bulger | |
| Location | Walton, Liverpool, England |
| Date | 12 February 1993 |
Attack type | Child-on-child murder by bludgeoning, torture murder, kidnapping, mutilation, dismemberment |
| Weapons | Bricks, stones, a fishplate, others |
| Victim | James Bulger |
| Burial | Kirkdale Cemetery, Fazakerley, Liverpool |
| Perpetrators |
|
| Motive | Inconclusive |
| Verdict | Guilty |
| Convictions | Murder, abduction |
| Sentence | Indefinite sentence in juvenile detention (paroled after 8 years) |
On 12 February 1993 in Merseyside, England, two 10-year-old boys, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, abducted, tortured, and murdered a two-year-old boy, James Patrick Bulger (16 March 1990 – 12 February 1993). Thompson and Venables led Bulger away from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, where Bulger was visiting shops with his mother. His mutilated body was found on a railway line two and a half miles (four kilometres) away in Walton, Liverpool, two days later.
Thompson and Venables were charged on 20 February 1993 with abduction and murder. They were found guilty on 24 November, making them the youngest convicted murderers in modern British history. They were sentenced to indefinite detention at Her Majesty's pleasure, and remained in custody until a Parole Board decision in June 2001 recommended their release on a lifelong licence at age 18. Venables was sent to prison in 2010 for breaching the terms of his licence, was released on parole again in 2013, and in November 2017 was again sent to prison for possessing child sexual abuse images on his computer. He remained in prison in 2023 after his appeals for parole were rejected.
The Bulger case has prompted widespread debate about how to handle young offenders when they are sentenced or released from custody.